Product Review: Caviar Curls Velvet Detangler + Oyin Handmade Hair Dew

What is a beauty box and how does it work?

For a fee, you subscribe to a certain service, like Curl Box or Curl Kit, and they send you a box of products (samples and sometimes full sizes) every month, to try out.

Do you subscribe to any beauty boxes?

There are no beauty boxes in this zone (none that I know of), but in June, my lovely sister got me a box from Curl Kit. Amongst other things, my box contained two leave-in conditioners- a full size 8 oz bottle of Caviar Curls Velvet Leave-In Detangler and a 2 oz mini bottle of Oyin Handmade Hair Dew.

Curl Kit June 2013

I had pretty similar experiences with both products, so I’m just going to lay out the separate product info and review in one quick shot.

OYIN HANDMADE HAIR DEW

Ingredients:

purified water, castor oil, olive oil, organic aloe vera gel, behentrimonium methosulfate (and) cetearyl alcohol (emulsifier derived from colza oil), coconut oil, olive squalane, phenoxyethanol (and) caprylil glycol (preservative), cetyl alcohol, fragrance, and love!

Product Description:

Looking for a product to wake up and moisturize your ‘second day hair’? Looking for a way to make your hair pliable enough to re-style without a full rinse? Just want to refresh your coils and curls and give them a shot of moisture before sealing? This leave-in is your answer! Plays well with other Oyin leave-ins and stylers.

Man. This smells amaaaaaazing! I felt like cake and wafers personified long after use, so yummy I could have licked it. Well, from a girl who ate soap, powder and chalk as a child, this wasn’t an entirely impossible idea. Don’t look at me like that! ( ._.)

CAVIAR CURLS VELVET LEAVE-IN DETANGLER

Ingredients:

Aqueous (water, aqua purificada, purified), organic mango extract, organic marshmallow root, organic goji extract, chamomile extract, nettles extract, cetyl alcohol, *behentrimonium methosulfate, citric acid, **dehydroacetic acid (and) benzyl alcohol, natural fragrance.

*Behentrimonium Methosulfate is NOT a “sulfate”. It is made from non-genetically modified rapeseed oil. It is a scientifically advanced ingredient, considered the mildest hair de-tangling and thickening ingredient available.

**Dehydroacetic acid (and) Benzyl Alcohol is an eco-certified non-irritating preservative blend derived from plants.

Product Description:

Tangle No More! Unruly hair and knots don’t stand a chance against Caviar Curls Velvet Leave-In Detangler. It eliminates tangles and restores hair for healthy moisture balance, while protecting against breakage. This creamy herbal conditioner is enriched with botanical extracts and organic ingredients to smooth the cuticles and to remove knots, snags and tangles for all types of hair.

Direction: Apply generously to hair and use a wide tooth comb to gently detangle troubled section.

For thick/coarse curls: Use a generous amount to detangle/leave-in. Do not Rinse.

For loose wavy curls: Use a moderate amount to detangle and then rinse. Add a little to the ends as a leave-in.

Some Naturals say this product looks, smells, feels just like Kinky Curly Knot Today. I haven’t tried KCKT so I cannot say. A conspiracy theory is that Kinky Curly has repackaged KCKT in the form of this Caviar Curls detangler. (I’m not sure how this makes any sense) A few people have expressed concerns about the product because there’s no way to directly contact the manufacturers. Naturalistas are definitely some of the world’s best bullshit busters, we research, we go innnn! Does knowing your product’s manufacturer matter to you though? Let’s talk in the comments!

MY 2-IN-1 REVIEW

What’s my hair like? Kinky-coily, 4C, low porosity, fine texture, high density hair.

How I Used: I used both products (separately of course) as leave-ins on clean damp hair, fresh after a wash.

Smell? Both products smell nice! I can’t put a finger on what exactly the Velvet Detangler smells like, but it smells good. The Hair Dew from Oyin Handmade? It was a CANDY SHOP up in my hair! I had a hard time NOT being heavy handed with my small sample!

Slip? Great slip. I navigated through my knotty hair, and detangled with ease.

Absorbency? My hair absorbed both products really well!

Consistency? Creamy, not too thick.

Ingredients? Both products have a clean list. Worth noting: they are both glycerine free, sulphate free, paraben free, and mineral oil free.

My hair loves glycerine, and I’ve noticed that I only miss the absence of glycerine in a product on the first day. I fix this on Day 1 hair by a water x glycerine spritz before applying the leave-in, or a few hours later, as a refresher. After day 1, I always spritz my hair with my water x glycerine mix anyway (whether or not the leave-in I’m using has humectants in it or not) so it doesn’t matter.

Cost? Mmmm. You can view pricing information for the Hair Dew on the Oyin Handmade website here. There, a 8.4 oz bottle costs $13.99. That’s about 2,300 naira. You be the judge of this one. And the Caviar Curls product was listed as $15 on an Etsy page that has now been taken down.

Availability? The “website” listed on the Caviar Curls bottle (caviarcurls.com) used to lead to an Etsy product listing, which apparently doesn’t exist anymore. The only other place I’ve been able to see the product is on the Curl Kit website.

I don’t know where to find Oyin Handmade products in Lagos (if you do, kindly drop a note in the comments or in our Directory) so, these products are unavailable to me “in my region”.

Am I Likely To Repurchase? Honestly, no. My hair doesn’t hate these two, but it’s not in love with them either. Thanks to consistent deep conditioning, I’m at a point where my hair can work with everything, to a good extent. They do moisturise, but I have to say that I’ve enjoyed just as good slip and better moisturising from cheaper products. So, coupled with the fact that they’re not even readily available here, I am SO not likely to buy again!

Have you tried either of these products? How did you like them?

P.S. We are celebrating Natural Hair Month! Read more about how you could join me and many others here, and watch this space tomorrow for a small announcement! 😉

Till next time,

Love,

AB

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